New Paltz: Raising money for mission trip to Puerto Rico

On Sunday, 100 people packed into the Unison Arts and Learning Center to raise money for a group of five who are leaving next weekend on a mission trip to Puerto Rico. They plan to help the recovering island build sustainable farms. Video by Jack Howland/Poughkeepsie Journal
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Joseph Jastrab of the band "Spirit Brothers" leads the crowd in singing. The money raised at the event was going toward five people who have planned a mission trip to Puerto Rico.(Photo: Jack Howland/Poughkeepsie Journal)Buy Photo

NEW PALTZ - A group of five area residents plan to travel to Puerto Rico Saturday to help rebuild farms in the storm-battered island.

The “Five Friends for Puerto Rico” hope to raise $8,000 to use on relief efforts. They had raised $3,000 before hosting a fundraiser Sunday at the Unison Arts and Learning Center, according to Stone Ridge resident Marie Bloom, one of the five.

Bloom said they hoped the music-filled event would help them meet their goal.

“If we don’t, we’re just going to keep on bothering people, pestering them aggressively,” she said with a laugh, “until the day we leave, which is early Saturday morning.”

The group is helping the Puerto Rico-based group Fondo De Resiliencia in its mission to “rebuild 200 small farms” in two years, she said. They will be taking such items as Hudson Valley seeds that produce corn, tomatoes and kale; medicine to treat wounds; solar-powered cellphone chargers and flashlights; and solar panels for homes.

Hurricane Maria tore through the island on Sept. 20, killing at least 60 people and causing island-wide damage. Around five percent of the island remains without power, according to the island’s government.

Czmz Jaya, who works on the Kingston-based Seed Song Farm and Center, said she may stay in Puerto Rico beyond her scheduled return date of April 24. She said she hopes their efforts help deliver “sustainable recovery” to the island.

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Czmz Jaya, one of the five going to Puerto Rico, chats with an attendee on Sunday. She works at Seed Song Farm in Kingston and was the last person to join the group.(Photo: Jack Howland/Poughkeepsie Journal)

“To me, it’s a way of rescuing back what our ancestors used to do,” Jaya said. “Everything grown together... everything being done in a community setting."

In addition to raising funds, Sunday’s event became a send-off party in which the goal was also to “raise spirits,” Joseph Jastrab said to the crowd of around 100. Jastrab, with his band the “Spirit Brothers,” started the event by instructing the crowd to join him in traditional Native American chants.

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Rosendale resident Diane Zuckerman sings out on Sunday alongside her friend, Ruth Pine. She said she felt emotional singing with all those in attendance.(Photo: Jack Howland/Poughkeepsie Journal)

Rosendale resident Diane Zuckerman, a Spanish teacher at Rondout Valley High School in Accord, made a donation on Sunday and found herself getting emotional while singing out.

“I felt so much passion,” she said. “I think we have an abundance and that we should share what we have.”